Google has a ‘very high bar’ for M&A targets, CEO Sundar Pichai says

Published on: Feb 4, 2019
Author: Amy Liu
  • Google had a shot at open source software companies GitHub and Red Hat last year.
  • The company reported roughly $109 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of 2018.
  • With former Oracle executive Thomas Kurian as Alphabet’s new head of Cloud, insiders are expecting some big acquisitions.

With more than $109 billion in cash and marketable securities on hand, Google is often at the center of M&A speculation — who the company should buy, who it missed out on. But CEO Sundar Pichai says the company has a “very high bar” to do a deal.

“Really we are always evaluating opportunities,” he said on the company’s Q4 earnings call. “To me it’s been more about us finding the right fit rather than being constrained by anything in particular.”

Google had a shot at open source software companies GitHub and Red Hat last year, but ultimately lost out to Microsoft and IBMrespectively. CNBC reported in October that Google held talks with both companies, but was ultimately outbid or walked away. The company has also previously looked at Twitter and Snap, according to media reports.

With former Oracle executive Thomas Kurian replacing Diane Greene as Alphabet’s new head of cloud, rumors are swirling about possible big acquisitions in the enterprise software space.

“It’s always an important part of our strategy, and we have done great acquisitions in the past things like YouTube and Android Wear — big acquisitions for us,” Pichai said. “And so we continue to look for opportunities ahead.”

Source: CNBC

 

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